Squiddies 2025

The Armchair Squid turns sixteen years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  The Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Casablanca

Morocco wasn't even the point of our late-February/early-March trip.  Royal Air Maroc had the best airfares for getting to Andalusia.  Why not extend what was already a long layover in Casablanca?  We could add another country - indeed, another continent - to our life lists.  Is Casablanca even that exciting a city?  According to the guidebooks and the websites, not really.  But if we're going to go at all, let's not spend half the time trying to get somewhere else.  Let's make the most of where the plane lands.

Well, wouldn't you know it.  Casablanca knocked our socks off.  No, it's not a tourist trap and that was perfectly fine after our more conventional adventures in Spain.  It's just a city where people go about their daily lives - people who let us walk in their midst for a while, mostly ignoring us, to be honest.  My friends, it was grand.  That's what real traveling is - not gawking but simply being.  Fly on the wall rather than sightseer.  No long lines.  No tour guides.  Just life.

I'd live there for years given the chance.  It's been a long time since I've felt that way about a place.

Biggest Disappointment: Trump's Second Term

Is disappointment even the right word?  Donald Trump's narcissistic lust for tyranny is not exactly a secret.  And yet, my country voted him back into the Presidency.  I guess that is my disappointment.  I'm still amazed and deeply discouraged that so many people aren't horrified by him.  They want this.  All of the bigotry, misogyny, contempt, incompetence, recklessness, dishonesty, crassness, arrogance, pettiness, the near-daily betrayals - they aren't dealbreakers.  Folks, that says a lot more about us than it does about him.  

And the feeble response of the Democrats in Congress has been appalling.

I fear for the present and the future.  Even if we can turn this around, the mess to clean up will be huge.  Plenty of the damage can never be entirely undone.

And that is what they want.

Best Read: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

We're living in interesting times.  It can be difficult to know what to say to people.  The Right is so... programmed.  They all watch the same news shows, visit the same websites, watch the same TikTok videos, stick to the same talking points as if they are gospel.  Even imagine they are gospel.  Even when they're in clear defiance of gospel.  

I'm veering off point.

If you're looking to make solid progressive arguments, Reni Eddo-Lodge's book is a great reference.  More importantly, it's an essential read for white people to better understand the racially-framed experiences of people of color.  Systemic racism is real whether you believe in it or not.  So is privilege.  The question is what you do with truth once it's presented to you.  

Thanks to my ex-pat time in Japan, I still have several British friends.  A few of them believe racial injustice is an American problem and not a British one.  I really want them to read this book.

You should, too.

Best Comics Find: Love and Rockets by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez

via Wikipedia

I've been aggressively exploring the comic book medium for over a decade now and practically the instant my curiosity took me beyond Marvel and DC, I started hearing about Love and Rockets.  First launched in the early '80s, L&R is considered by many to be the most important and influential indy comic in the American industry.  I'd never read it until this summer.  Now I'm hooked.

Why is L&R so good?  The characters are so real you can practically smell them.  You experience their love, their pain, their shame, their thrills, their lusts, their losses because you are sitting next to them on the couch, feeling awkward as Maggie and Hopey start making out right in front of you, forgetting you're there.  It's the same reason Scorcese films are amazing.  These aren't strangers.  They're the young squatters in the house next door with sketchy friends stopping by all the time.  They occasionally ask you to buy beer for them because they're not old enough yet.  They're the rowdy group of young men talking too loudly in the street late at night outside your front door.  Or it's even closer.  You're in the street with them, annoyed by the stuffy old geezer who keeps telling you to shut up and go home.  

This intimacy is achieved so elegantly you don't notice until after you've been absorbed.  Every storytelling experience should be like this, yet it rarely is.  Without question, L&R is a masterpiece.

Athlete of the Year: Ichiro Suzuki

via Wikipedia

The Armchair Squid began life as a sports blog but I rarely return to the subject anymore.  Of the athletes I did mention over the past twelve months, no one had a better year than Ichiro Suzuki.

In late July, Ichiro became the first Japanese-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.  Ichiro was simultaneously the greatest contact hitter, the greatest leadoff man, the greatest outfield arm and the most internationally beloved player of his generation.  Just one unbelievable stat of many: for ten consecutive seasons, Ichiro had at least 206 hits.  Ty Cobb can't claim that, nor Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew nor any of the other great contact hitters.  In fact, no one else has even come close.  Pete Rose also had ten seasons with 200+ but never more than three in a row.  Sports fans are forever talking about "records that will never be broken," then Alex Ovechkin surpasses Gretzky's once-unassailable career goals total.  I feel 100% safe saying that Ichiro's ten consecutive years with 206 hits or more is untouchable. 

During his career, there was discussion of whether Ichiro could truly be considered one of the all-time greats, having spent so much of his early career in Japan.  In the end, the Major League numbers alone were plenty: 3,089 hits, .311 lifetime batting average, 509 stolen bases, 10 All-Star Games, 10 Gold Gloves.  The years in Japan only pad the already sterling resume.  Without a doubt, he was one of the greatest athletes in American sports for nearly two decades.

Best Family Adventure: The Alhambra

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain was the main target for our aforementioned February/March trip.  The Alhambra, a UNESCO heritage site considered by many to be the most beautiful man-made structure in the world, has been at or near the top of my travel wish list for as long as I have known it existed, over 30 years.  With such high expectations, a let down is practically inevitable.  Even while we were there, I worried I wasn't doing enough to appreciate what I was seeing.

I needn't have worried.  The Alhambra is an experience that invades your soul.  Now, just a few months later, it feels like a dream.  Were we really there?  I remember our last day in Granada, already wistful over the fact that we had to leave.  Already thinking of how to make the most of the next visit, knowing full well it might never happen because life is like that.  

So, yeah.  I read all of that and it sure looks like I had a great year.

Apart from Trump.

Fuck Trump!

Squiddies 2024

The Armchair Squid turns fifteen years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  The Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: The Cat and the Roomba

via Wikipedia

The premise of the Japanese manga The Way of the House Husband by Kosuke Oono is wild.  Tatsu, a Yakuza boss, leaves his life of organized crime when he marries a career woman.  Obviously, he doesn't have too many job skills beyond thuggery so he learns to cook and clean while his wife makes the money.  Manga, particularly the ones that make it into translation, are dependably high-quality compared to most English-language comic books.  So I wasn't surprised that it's good.  I was definitely surprised that it's so funny.  Humor does not always translate well from one culture to another.

In one issue/chapter, Tatsu attempts to vacuum via Roomba.  The family cat is not pleased.  Madness ensues.  Yes, it is the stuff of TikTok videos.  Somehow, it's way funnier in sequential art form.  I genuinely laughed out loud.

Biggest Disappointment: Queerphobia and Misogyny at Citizen Cider

Last year, our favorite local cidery released its first beer, an offering called Hey Bub.  In itself, it seemed a reasonable choice for expanding the brand.  The trouble came in the marketing campaign, clearly targeting straight, white, blue-collar men.  There were t-shirts of men doing manly things like riding a tractor or fishing with taglines like "Get Plowed" and "Approved for Hooking Up."  The company's own pub staff, specifically the female and LBTQIA+ employees who have to endure unwelcome advances from drunk customers all the time, took offense and refused to wear the shirts as directed by management.  During Pride Month, the staff decorated a chalkboard promoting the new beer and other products with rainbows.  The board was mysteriously erased.  Twice.  A company director was overheard saying "We can't have that shit" associated with Hey Bub.  

Not good.

Loads of people quit and the public backlash has been severe with a local boycott of the brand doing real damage.  The Boardroom, our local game cafe, sold their last keg of Citizen Cider at a reduced price and gave all the proceeds to LGBTQIA+ charities.  Obviously, Citizen Cider has tried to walk it all back but for those injured, it's too little too late.

I'm upset that it happened but I cheer for the whistleblowers who stood up for themselves.  And I'm proud of the Vermont public that backed them up.  It's the sort of thing that makes me glad we live here.

You can read the original Seven Days article here.

Best Read, First Time Category: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

via Amazon

I guess I'm a sucker for books about aging and death.  I still recommend Atul Gawande's Being Mortal to any and all.  In her graphic memoir Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Roz Chast shares her experiences in dealing with her parents.  The story is neither pretty nor sweet.  There is pain, frustration and struggle at every stage.  As my own parents grow older, these are the sort of things I think about all the time.  Chast's book was a meaningful find.

  

Best Re-Read: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

via Amazon

I have a love-hate relationship with R&J.  On the one hand, I feel the double suicide is one of the great narrative copouts in all of literature.  On the other, it is the play that made me fall in love with Shakespeare and it didn't happen until I was in my late 30s.  This past fall, I read it for pure pleasure, neither scholastic nor professional responsibilities involved.  Without a doubt, it is a masterpiece.

Best Comics Find: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

See above.

Athlete of the Year: Bernie Casey (1939-2017)

via Amazon

Bernie Casey played the role of Calvin Hudson in the DS9 two-parter The Maquis (see parts 1 and 2).  Long before that, he was a professional football player and a successful one at that.  He had a seven-year career in the NFL, playing as a halfback, flanker and tight end, first for the San Francisco 49ers, later for the Los Angeles Rams.  He made the Pro Bowl in 1967.  In addition, he was a champion hurdler in college.  

Best Family Adventure: Hot Water

Last year's adventure at Scandinave (see same category last year) turned us on to the pleasures of hot water bathing.  This year, we had three trips where spas and jacuzzis figured in the planning: two visits to Porches Inn in North Adams, Massachusetts and one to the extraordinary Balnea Spa in Bromont, Quebec.  I expect our new hobby will be a prominent theme in our future travels.  

Squiddies 2023

The Armchair Squid turns fourteen years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  The Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Punt e Mes

It's been a great year for interesting new additions to the liquor cabinet.  Armagnac and Empress 1908 Gin have both brought intriguing possibilities to my creations.  The best find of all has been Punt e Mes, a vermouth from the Piedmont region of Italy which blends sweet and dry in a 2:1 ratio.  The result in a Manhattan is a raisin-y flavor, especially combined with George Dickel Rye, I have found.  Punt e Mes has become the go-to in my Negroni and Leap-Year recipes, too.  I must credit Restaurant Poco in Burlington with introducing us to this exciting spirit.

Biggest Disappointment: Greenpoint

I didn't mind the Greenpoint so much but boy, did my wife hate it!  The cocktail combines rye, yellow Chartreuse, sweet vermouth, Angostura and orange bitters with a lemon twist.  Each of those is usually a winning ingredient for us (though truthfully, yellow Chartreuse never seems to dazzle the way green Chartreuse does) but this particular combination failed.  She reported it tasted like cough syrup and couldn't even finish hers.

You can't win 'em all.

Best Read, First Time Category: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

via Amazon

Pachinko is the multi-generational saga of a Korean family through the twentieth century, first in Korea, ultimately in Japan.  Shame is the narrative theme throughout.  Shame is a famously powerful force in Asian cultures, though I believe it is more potent in the West than many of us would like to believe.  Apart from being a beautifully written story in its own right, Pachinko tugged hard at my nostalgic heart strings.  The family lived in Yokohama, the same city where I lived myself 25 years ago.  

Soon after I finished the book, we watched the TV series.  As is often the case, many of the details were altered but overall, it's highly enjoyable.  A second season has been promised.  They did a pretty good job of covering the entire novel in eight episodes so I don't know what they'll do for material.  Still, I can hardly wait.

Speaking of Japan nostalgia...

Best Comics Find: Old Boy

via Amazon

Oddly, the best comic book series I discovered this year is one I can't say I fully understood.  Old Boy was a Japanese manga published in the '90s.  It's had unusual cultural reach, inspiring first a South Korean movie by Park Chan-wook, then a Spike Lee remake of Park's film.  I only have Volume 7 of the trades so I came into the middle of what is already a confusing story.  Goto, a gangster, has just been released from a private prison after ten years.  He knows neither why he was imprisoned nor why he was set free.  The series follows his efforts to piece everything together.

The story is expertly told and once again, images of 1990s Tokyo worked their sweet magic with me.  As baffled as I (along with Goto) am by what's going on, I can't help wanting to know more.  The books are out of print but they are available digitally on Comixology.  Reading the rest might be a fine way to spend a rainy day at some point.

Athlete of the Year: James Worthy

via Memory Alpha

Hall of Famer James Worthy retired as a basketball player in 1994.  The year before, he made one of the most surprising cameos in the history of Star Trek when he played Koral, a Klingon smuggler, in "Gambit, Part II."  Worthy had met Robert O'Reilly (Gowron) on an airplane and expressed an interest in being on the show.  The rest is history.

Over 13 professional seasons, all with the Los Angeles Lakers, Worthy had 16,320 points, 4,708 rebounds and 2,791 assists.  His teams won three NBA titles and he was the MVP of the finals in 1988.  He was a seven-time All-Star and a member of the NBA anniversary teams for both the 50th and 75th league anniversaries.  His number 42 was retired by the storied Lakers.  I was definitely a Lakers over Celtics guy in the '80s so I appreciated Worthy.  

via Wikipedia

However, I bear a grudge.  His NCAA title with North Carolina in 1982 came at the expense of my team, the Georgetown Hoyas, in a heartbreaking loss.  In the final seconds of what is considered one of the greatest college basketball games ever, Georgetown point guard Fred Brown threw an errant pass to an out-of-position UNC player, believing he was a Hoya teammate.  That UNC player?  James Worthy.

So, wherever you are, sir, this is no small gesture on my part.

Best Family Adventure: Scandinave Spa

It's been a stressful year.  Being a teacher is tougher than ever  these days and I had added responsibilities this year which, while gratifying in many ways, didn't exactly help.  Parenting a first-year college student proved more challenging that expected as well.  There have been some big hits to my social world here in Vermont, too.

That said, the year has also brought some amazing moments.  Two, in particular, gave me exactly what I needed: a (somewhat) spontaneous trip to Camden Yards for a baseball game in Baltimore and a visit to Scandinave Spa in Montreal.

I had never been to a thermal spa before, unless you count Japanese onsens.  My wife and I had certainly never been to one together before.  Scandinave's thermal spa area offers a sauna, a steam room and a hydrojet bath with thermal waterfall.  The latter was my preference.  Actually, the best part of all was the dark, quiet relaxation room.  Spas aren't exactly a cheap hobby but definitely a worthwhile occasional indulgence.

Squiddies 2022

The Armchair Squid turns thirteen years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  The Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Baltimore Orioles

In February, in my post about The MVP Machine by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik, I wondered who on my beloved baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, would be this year's big surprise.  It turned out to be the whole darn squad.  Projected to lose 100 games this season, they're in the thick of the playoff race in late August.  Previously undistinguished players like outfielder Austin Hays and shortstop Jorge Mateo are making significant contributions.  Rookie Adley Rutschman has quickly established himself as the best catcher in the Major Leagues.  Most amazing of all, the Orioles took a bunch of cast-off relief pitchers and somehow combined them into one of the strongest bullpens in baseball.  And the team is fun to watch.  They believe in themselves and their enthusiasm is highly infectious.

It's possible the team's surge came too late for them to make the playoffs this year.  But with even more prospects yet to emerge from the still highest-ranked farm system, it feels like perennial contention is not far off.  It's been a long time since Baltimore has been this excited about baseball.

Go, Birds!

Biggest Disappointment: Nichelle Nichols's Passing

Actress Nichelle Nichols, Uhura of Star Trek's original series, passed away from heart failure on July 30th.  She was the first Black woman to have a regular role on an American television show as anything other than a servant.  Her on-screen kiss with William Shatner was a revolution all its own.  But if you know Star Trek, you know that Uhura was so much more.  She was the emotional heart of the Enterprise bridge crew - in many ways, the most human character of all.

And Nichelle Nichols was more than just Uhura.  A triple threat, she was an accomplished dancer and singer who toured with both Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.  Beyond the performing arts, she worked with NASA to recruit both minority and female personnel.  

89 years is a long life.  Even so, Star Trek's light noticeably dimmed with Nichols's passing.  Her legacy is secure.

Best Read, First Time Category: I Came As a Shadow by John Thompson

via Wikipedia

This wasn't an easy choice.  I had three five-star reads over the past twelve months.  I'll discuss the other two with the next award.  The autobiography of longtime Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson gave me a peak behind the curtain of my childhood, offering insights into a team I love and also the community where I grew up.  It's hard to compete with that.  Given the choice, I'd rather read more books like I Came As a Shadow than either of the other two.  The big guy wins again.

Best Comics Find: Daredevil: Born Again

via Wikipedia

My other two top reads were both comics: Sonny Liew's The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye and the Born Again story arc from Marvel's Daredevil series.  Liew's faux-biographical history of Singapore is extraordinary but Born Again goes on a short list of the best English-language comics I've ever read.   The arc, originally published in issues 227-233 in 1986, was written by Frank Miller and drawn by David Mazzuchelli.

The Kingpin learns of Daredevil's secret identity and sets about ruining Matt Murdock's life.  Murdock/Daredevil exacts his revenge.  Simple premise.  The magic is in the telling.  The world-building is exemplary.  We hear, feel and smell Hell's Kitchen as well as we see it.  We share in Murdock's all-too-real life pain.  We delight in his relief when all comes right.

It's hard to top a simple story beautifully told.

That's two years in a row for both Miller and Daredevil in this spot.

Athlete of the Year: Buck O'Neil (1911-2006)

In 2006, mere months before his death, Buck O'Neil was passed over for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  This year, he finally made it.

On the merits of his career as player and manager in the Negro Leagues, O'Neil was an understandably marginal candidate for the honor.  But his broader contributions as a goodwill ambassador for the sport were exceptional.  Anyone who has watched Ken Burns's Baseball series knows that Buck O'Neil was a master storyteller in a sport that values the skill.  Written records of the Negro Leagues are relatively scarce so the oral history provided by O'Neil and others are essential.  If you wish to know more about this extraordinary man, I can't recommend Joe Posnanski's The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America highly enough.  No joke, you'll feel better about humanity after you've read it.

Even before his official induction, Buck O'Neil had a larger presence in the Hall than most.  After he died, the museum gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.  Today, a life-sized statue of O'Neil greets visitors as they enter the museum's exhibit halls.

Best Family Adventure: High School Graduation

Our child graduated from high school in June.  For the second time in my life, I felt my place in the universe shift.  The first time was the day she was born.  Looking into her eyes for the first time, I realized I was no longer the central character of my own story.  Her high school graduation (even more than my own) felt like an arrival point - a brief one, to be sure, but certainly the most significant moment of transition since the birth itself.  We'll always be her parents, of course, but the job has qualitatively changed forever.

We've got another big transition coming right soon.  It's been wonderful to savor this particular life moment between the two this summer.

Squiddies 2021

The Armchair Squid turns twelve years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  The Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Chartreuse

Chartreuse is a liqueur which has been produced by French monks for at least four centuries.  There are two varieties: a sweeter yellow and a more intensely alcoholic green.  The flavor is wild, like psychedelia in a glass.  Different hints are emphasized depending on what it's combined with.  Sometimes anise prevails, other times mint, other times cinnamon, other times... I don't even know what.  It ain't cheap but on the bright side, a little goes a long way.  Without question, it was our most rewarding mixological discovery this year.

Biggest Disappointment: Chadwick Boseman's Passing

Actor Chadwick Boseman passed away last August of complications from colon cancer.  Only 43 years old, he'd already compiled an impressive film resume, having portrayed T'Challa/Black Panther, Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall among others.  May he rest in peace.

Best Read, First Time Category: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

via Amazon

Yu's novel about the life of "Generic Asian Man" Willis Wu is written in screenplay format.  Willis is an actor - or is he a character? - on a cop show called Black and White.  The leads are a Black man and a White woman.  Willis and all of the other Asians are background characters.  Of course, it's all an elaborate metaphor for the ways race plays out in American society, especially for those of East Asian descent.  While the weaving in and out of "reality" can be a little confusing, that's sort of the point.  Even Chinatown itself is simultaneously the reality and the metaphor for the compartmentalization of Asian culture in the United States.

The time to educate ourselves about race is now.  I can't recommend Interior Chinatown highly enough.

Best Read, Re-Read Category: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 

via Amazon

The penultimate volume of the Harry Potter series is an intensely emotional experience.  Our young hero confronts both loss and love with greater intensity and immediacy than ever before.  The stage is set for the amazing ending.  Good as it is, the final book suffers a little from pacing issues.  So, Year 6 gets my nod in this category.

Best Comics Find: Frank Miller's Daredevil

Daredevil is a fascinating character, one of Marvel's best.  Industry titan Frank Miller started drawing for the series in May 1979.  Eventually, he would take over writing duties as well.  It was his breakthrough gig.  Miller brought darker sensibilities to the medium, both literally and figuratively.  His style was a fine match for an emotionally remote protagonist and his gritty Hell's Kitchen world.

Athlete of the Year: Willie Mays

via Wikipedia

This summer, I read Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend by James S. Hirsch.  If I'd previously had any doubts about Mays's superiority over all other baseball players in history, Hirsch's book erased them.  Mays turned 90 years old in May.  He's a living national treasure.

Best Family Adventure: Zooming Christmas

This year, COVID circumstances forced (sensible) people to be creative during the holidays.  Thanks to the ingenuity of family and friends, we enjoyed several of what I hope will become new annual traditions.  English Prof hosted a reading of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens for over 30 people from her home in Massachusetts.  My sister and niece organized Jolabokaflod (explained here) for Christmas Eve including 15 people over six households, three US states (plus DC) and two countries.  My wife inspired an Æbleskiver Breakfast for three of those same households Christmas morning.  We connected with her family later Christmas day - five people, three states in that case.  Even under normal circumstances, coordinating any of those gatherings would have been challenging.  Zoom, for all of the headaches it brings, made it all possible.

Squiddies 2020

The Armchair Squid turns eleven years old today!  It's time to hand out some hardware.  And the Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: The Beatles' Appearance in Strange Tales #130

To say the Beatles were a big deal in 1965 would be a ridiculous understatement.  The band was frequently mentioned in the Marvel comic books of the era.  However, a special treat was prepared for Strange Tales #130: the Fab Four actually appeared on the page!

via Pinterest

In 1978, Marvel published a Super Special called "The Beatles Story," an unauthorized history of the band.  Skrull Beatles impersonators would eventually feature in the fictional Marvel universe, first appearing in Wisdom #6 in July, 2007.


Biggest Disappointment: COVID-19

This one's obvious, right?   I can't say I've been entirely miserable personally with social distancing.  To be perfectly honest, it suits me just fine most of the time.  But that's the selfish view.  People are dying and my own government is doing an absolutely pathetic job of managing the pandemic.  I hate when people talk about this as the "new normal," as if we've already embraced it as an acceptable state of affairs.  It is anything but.


Best Read, First Time Category: March: Book Two by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

Lewis and Aydin's March series did an outstanding job reminding me how little I know about the American Civil Rights Movement.  It's not easy picking a favorite out of the trilogy but, as is often the case, the middle volume represents the heart of the story.  In particular, Book Two introduced me to the Big Six: Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young.  Lewis and King are the only ones I already knew.  Biographies for the other four went immediately on the wish list.

via Wikipedia

Sadly, John Lewis passed away on July 17th from pancreatic cancer.  Generous to the end, he left us with a final message of hope and inspiration.


Best Read, Re-Read Category: The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book by Bill Watterson

via Amazon

Calvin and Hobbes is the best of the best.  Lazy Sunday Book collects the Sunday strips from May 24, 1987 to July 30, 1989.  It's glorious.  Yup, better than Harry Potter.


Best Comics Find: Marvel Unlimited

Marvel maintains its back catalog - 27,000 issues and counting - online and available at a highly reasonable subscription rate, especially if your intention is to read one comic book a day for at least a year.  My Marvel Immersion Project would have been a lot more expensive and a much bigger hassle - i.e. impossible - without it.   An additional benefit I haven't even tapped into yet: Marvel owns all Star Wars comic book series now!


Athlete of the Year: Joe Frazier (1944-2011)

via Wikipedia

I finished Ali: A Life, Jonathan Eig's excellent biography about Muhammad Ali in January.  Here's what I wrote about Frazier, Ali's greatest rival:

For me, the most sympathetic character in the Ali saga has always been Joe Frazier.  Their three encounters are probably the most celebrated matches in boxing history.  Smokin' Joe never had Ali's flash but he more than made up for it with a nasty left hook.  Beyond the ring, the Ali-Frazier story is one of betrayal.  Frazier was supportive of Ali during his exile, even lending him money.  Frazier came to see Ali as a friend.  In the lead up to each of their matches, Ali resorted to low-ball attacks, calling Frazier out as a gorilla and an Uncle Tom.  Ali always defended his actions as gamesmanship.  Frazier carried the grudge for the rest of his life.

Best Family Adventure: Zoom Gatherings

Social distancing came with an unexpected silver lining.  If anything, I have been more sociable than I was before.  Zoom and its many competitors have inspired me to "get together" with several friends I hadn't seen in years.  I even have a (more or less) weekly board game night (via Board Game Arena) with a group of childhood friends, all of whom live in other states.  Yes, Zoom meetings for work are annoying but as a social avenue, they have been essential to my happiness in these troubled times.

Squiddies 2019

The Armchair Squid turns ten years old today - a full decade!  It's time to hand out some hardware.  And the Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Jake Shimabukuro

I will readily admit that I had no idea jazz ukulele was a thing.  I found several astonishingly amazing covers of Chick Corea's "Spain" for my post but none more surprising than Jake Shimabukuro's.  Ukuleles are definitely the it instrument these days but I haven't seen anyone else play like this guy.  Here he is performing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps":



And still, my all-time favorite song:




Biggest Disappointment: The Playwright Passes

I have not written about it on the blog until now but we lost a dear friend this past year, one I have mentioned many times nicknamed here as The Playwright.  He and English Prof are the closest thing our daughter has to godparents and his passing was a major blow for our family.  Since they moved to New England, we have spent more Thanksgivings together than not.  The holiday will never be quite the same for us.


Best Read, First Time Category: The Boys of Dunbar by Alejandro Danois

The tale of the Dunbar Poets of 1981-82 was already one of my favorite sports stories.  Generally hailed as the greatest high school basketball team ever, the squad featured four future NBA players, three of them lottery picks, one an All-Star.  Their All-American was Reggie Williams whom I got to know later as one of Georgetown's all-time legends.  But their real star was a 5-3 point guard named Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, the shortest man ever to play in the NBA and one of the most extraordinary athletes of all time.  I was always going to love this book.  Am I biased because of the subject matter?  Undoubtedly.  I would happily read more just like it.


Best Read, Re-Read Category: Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Hamlet is eternal.   Is it truly the greatest work of literature in the English language?  Debatable.  But it's on a short list.  This was my first reading since high school and, as is the true mark of any great work of art, I view it completely differently with greater life experience.  Perhaps I should try again in another quarter-century or so.


Best Comics Find: The Graphic Canon

The Graphic Canon is a wonderful concept beautifully executed.  Russ Kick collected and solicited graphic novel renditions of dozens of world literature classics, ranging from antiquity to the late 20th century.  Volume 1 is the first of three in the original compilation.   Shakespeare, Dante and Cervantes are all in Volume 1, among many others.  Kick wrote thoughtful and informative blurbs to introduce each chapter.  While I am certainly interested in the second and third volumes in the series, I am just as inspired to explore the original works.


Athlete of the Year: Muggsy Bogues

Since reading The Boys of Dunbar, I have also watched Baltimore Boys, an ESPN documentary about the same team.   It was great to be able to see video footage of the team.  For Muggsy, especially, seeing is believing:




Best Family Adventure: Finishing My Master's Degree

Graduate school was, without a doubt, a full family effort.  Yes, it was a lot of work for me but I couldn't have done it without the patience, understanding and support of my wife and daughter.  The benefits, both personal and professional, were tremendous, including two deeply meaningful trips to England I haven't blogged about until now.  The family will see the benefit, too.  With a master's degree, I get a raise in salary.


As an added bonus this year, Decade Squiddies to celebrate the best from the humble beginnings to the humble present:

Biggest Surprise: Roberto Alomar Tweeting Me

The third year I did the A-to-Z Challenge, I featured second basemen.  My A submission was Roberto Alomar.  At the time (zheesh, seven years ago!), it was my practice to post a link on Twitter for each of my posts.  Who should tweet me later on to thank me for the post but Mr. Alomar himself?  @Robbiealomar: a confirmed account!  A Hall of Fame baseball player tweeted me!!!


Biggest Disappointment: The Playwright's Passing

See above.


Best Read: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

I still recommend this book to any and all who will listen.  Because if we're lucky, we grow old.  Regardless of luck, we're all going to die.  This is true for you and everyone you know and love.  Dr. Gawande's book is the most frank, informative and ultimately hopeful discussion I have encountered about aging and death.  No joke, you need to read it.


Athlete of the Decade: Roberto Alomar

Sure, other athletes have been more successful in the teens: Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Mike Trout, Steph Curry, Lebron James, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps.  But Alomar probably didn't even have to get up from the couch to make my day. (see above)




Best Family Adventure: The UK

Canada was a strong contender here.  We love our northern neighbor.  The city of Montreal alone has been my choice in this category twice.  I am certain our Canadian explorations will continue to be an important part of our family life for years to come.  But when I think back on this ten-year stretch in the future, I know that it will be the trips to Britain that stand out.

Some of my favorite people in the world live in England.  I don't mean that in the sense that one might say "some of my best friends are Republicans."  Rather, I don't see some of the people I love most in the world often enough because they live in London.  Through three separate trips within a year's time - courtesy of one family trip and the two as part of my grad program - I was able to be a part of their lives again for an all too short time.  Sharing that part of my life with my wife and daughter was also deeply meaningful.

During our family trip, we also went to Scotland: the highlight of the European trip for both my daughter in me.  Indeed, spending three days in Edinburgh, we all felt we'd just scratched the surface and we're eager to go again.

Oh, and did I mention this lifelong Beatles fan got to visit Liverpool?  Twice!

Squiddies 2018

The Armchair Squid turns nine years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  And the Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: A Willing Accomplice

There is always excitement in bringing a new cat into the house.  Every feline brings her own quirks.  One knows to expect the unexpected.  Who would have thought that The Scamp, newly acquired in February, would catch on so quickly to my blogging needs?  Getting a cat to pose for a photo, ever, let alone on command is unusual to say the least.  I make no claim to expert cat training skills.  The kid just gets it.  I set the drink down on the floor, she comes running over.  Hasn't even tried to sneak a sip.


Biggest Disappointment: Losing the Lug

One quiet Saturday, while my wife was out of town, I went down to the basement and heard the sound of suffering coming from the storage room.  Sure enough, there was The Big Lug, our beautiful Russian blue tom, lying on the floor and clearly struggling.  I rushed him over to the vet but he was too far gone.  They put him down upon arrival.  15 years is a long time to share a home with anyone.  He was well loved and sorely missed.
 

Best Read, First Time Category: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré

It is a classic of the genre for good reason.  There's no glamor at all in the tragic tale of Alex Leamas, a longtime British operative.  In fact, he wants out of the game.  But the Secret Service has one more job for him.  He's just an ordinary guy with an extraordinary job.  His girlfriend?  Just an average woman who fell in love with the wrong guy at the wrong time and so gets caught in his same trap.

Their story could have happened to anyone.  That's exactly why it works.  So good.


Best Read, Re-Read Category: Winning Chess Strategies by Yasser Seirawan

It was nice to end the summer with a chess book and Seirawan is always charming.  Now, if only I had time to play.


Best Comics Find: March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell

Charlottesville was over a year ago now.  The story of race in America hasn't gotten any easier.  But at least people are talking.  March is the graphic novel, autobiographical account of U.S. Representative John Lewis's personal history in the Civil Rights Movement.  So far, I have only read the first book of three but the others are on the shelf and I'm looking forward to them.


Athlete of the Year: Stan Musial (1920-2013)

By nearly all accounts, Stan the Man was one of the kindest superstars baseball has ever seen.  Numerous players, stars and journeymen alike, tell stories of how Musial went out of his way to welcome them to the Majors by name, even those who played for the other team.  This really says it all: he earned his nickname not in St. Louis where he played for over 20 years but in Brooklyn, home to the Cardinals' most hated rivals.  The Man turned Ebbets Field into his private pinball machine and they loved him anyway.


Best Family Adventure: Europe

We took a two-week to Europe over late June/early July:  Paris, London and Edinburgh.  We have some dear, old friends in London so reconnecting with them was the highlight for me.  As cities go, though, I'll take Edinburgh: small, manageable, easy to get away from the tourists.  Just as important this summer, it wasn't so damn hot.

My wife and I had both been to Europe before but for our 14-year-old daughter, it was the first time.  Every place we went, she was sad to leave.  That was really what I wanted: to give her a taste of the adventure so she would be eager to explore more on her own someday.

Squiddies 2017

The Armchair Squid turns eight years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  And the Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Patrick and Marcelle Leahy

via Senator Patrick Leahy

It was certainly a surprise to go out to dinner and find our senior Senator and his wife sitting at the table next to us, celebrating their wedding anniversary.  Even more delightful, the statesman told us a joke:

"I run three miles everyday.  If I miss a day, I add it to the next day's run.  So far, I'm 8,412 miles behind.  I'll run four miles tomorrow."


Biggest Disappointment: Trump

By conscious choice, I don't delve into politics more than necessary here at The Squid.  But the dark and depressing subject of President Donald J. Trump did come up in one of my book reviews.  There have been other disappointments this year but none compares to the big one.  Things only seem to be getting worse, too.  I don't even think I'm being partisan.  This has to be a nightmare for most Republicans, too.

Any bets as to how many months we have before they're swearing Mike Pence in as our 46th President?  Or will it have to be Paul Ryan?  Orrin Hatch?


Best Read, First-Time Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

via Wikipedia

Okay, so is it a great piece of literature?  Probably not.  But there is no series in the world for which I approach a new book with greater eagerness.  Does it even live up to the originals?  Probably not.  Does it leave me wanting more, more, more?  Most certainly, yes.

Hogwarts Forever!


Best Read, Re-Read Category: Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan

via Goodreads

I have done my best to get back into chess, though I've slacked off of late.  I first read Yasser Seirawan's Play Winning Chess series back in the late '90s, I think.  His books are a lot more fun, and more forgiving, than most chess writing so I am glad for the excuse to revisit them. 


Best Comics Find: James Sturm

via Wikipedia

Sturm is a co-founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont.  One of the clerks at our local comic shop studied under him and recommended his book The Golem's Mighty Swing to us.  It's one of two Depression Era baseball books for Sturm, the other being Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow.


Athlete of the Year: Honus Wagner (1874-1955)

via Wikipedia

Honus Wagner was one of the greatest baseball players of all time, playing most of his career at shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first two decades of the 20th century.  I read a biography about him just last month.  It was good to learn more about the man behind the baseball card.

Best Family Adventure: Montreal

Our February trips to Montreal are always a major highlight for us and this year was no exception.  We discovered loads of new (to us) restaurants and museums.  My mouth still waters thinking of the kawa (chicken skin) yakitori at Otto, not included in the photograph because we'd already eaten it by the time we thought to take pictures.

Squiddies 2016

The Armchair Squid turns seven years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  And the Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Calvin Trillin in Sleepless in Seattle

via Wikipedia

Calvin Trillin has been a star of my blog this year.  I featured his books three months in a row for the Cephalopod Coffeehouse.  Trillin writes about all kinds of things including a recent book about the civil rights movement.  He came to my attention because of his food writing - absolutely delightful.  The surprise came when I saw him sitting at the dinner table in Sleepless in Seattle!  Apparently, he is friends with the film's director, Nora Ephron.

It made for a funny family moment.  My wife explained to our daughter, "You know those books Daddy's been reading and giggling over?  That's the guy who wrote them."


Biggest Disappointment: Droid Episodes

via Wookieepedia

I love R2-D2 and C-3PO.  Star Wars wouldn't be the same without them.  They are an important link to Hidden Fortress, one of the most important films in the original's cinematic heritage.  They provide comic relief and they frequently drive the plot.  Artoo has been called a McGuffin but I don't think he quite qualifies as he serves a clear, demonstrable purpose.

But Clone Wars stories involving the droids as central characters tend to be darn near unwatchable.  Marvel had a comic book series starring the droids back in the day and those were also awful - not as bad as the Ewoks series but still embarrassing.  Clear lesson: the droids are great for the small work but let the organic beings bear the narrative heft.


Best Read, First-Time Category: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

via Amazon

I read a lot, or at least I aim to do so.  However, I rarely read anything that I immediately start recommending to everyone I know.  Such was the case for Being Mortal, Dr. Gawande's exploration of the choices we must make for ourselves and our loved ones as we age and die.  It's heavy reading to be sure but I appreciate the book's frankness and compassion.  So yes, you need to read it and get all of your loved ones to read it, too.


Best Read, Re-Read Category: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

via Wikipedia

I first read Julius Caesar in high school - 27 years ago, I believe.  It was nice to read it again as an adult, knowing more about life, politics and so forth.  Julius Caesar is an unusual and clever story for the fact that it's never fully clear who the good guy is.  Plus the title character dies a lot earlier than he usually does in a Shakespearean tragedy!


Best Comics Find: Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

Don't go thinking I don't remember book suggestions.  I picked this one up after my blogger pal Suze recommended it to me.  I've read a lot of graphic novels about history, including several about World War II in general and the A-bomb in particular.  Trinity earns big points for the clear explanation of the science of atomic energy, demonstrating the effectiveness of the sequential art medium.  I also admire the book's attention to the reactions of the scientists once they learned the full scope of their project and realized the unforeseen consequences of using nuclear weapons.


Athlete of the Year: Seabiscuit

via Wikipedia

For the second year in a row, I choose a deceased athlete from the 1930s.  Seabiscuit was also a horse - an unconventional choice, I'll admit.  While Sports Illustrated balked at choosing American Pharoah over Serena Williams - they were very wise to make that choice, by the way, and I'm ready to defend it anytime - my equine star had few rivals on the blog this year.  Harry Potter was tempting, though he's only a fictional character and my post about him didn't address his quidditch prowess.

Seabiscuit (1933-47) was one of the great celebrities of the 1930s.  More recently, he has been the subject of a highly successful book and movie.  I read the former last September.  Seabiscuit was a late bloomer.  I always have great sympathy for those.  Author Laura Hillenbrand did a wonderful job conveying the personality of the beast, as well as those of his human attendants.


Best Family Adventure: Nova Scotia

via Wikipedia

I have come to realize an undeniable truth of my adult life: I love Canada.  I love its quiet, its friendliness, its multilingualism, its beautiful, seemingly endless landscape, all of it.  This summer's big trip was Nova Scotia, the most populous maritime province.  We stayed in the Annapolis Royal area, not far from Digby, a stretch of coast famous for its scallops and for historical preservation.  They have lobster club sandwiches there.  What more does one need?  I truly did not want to go home from this trip.